While the OpTic Chicago and Los Angeles Thieves matchup has the Call of Duty scene salivating, it won’t be the Green Wall’s biggest rivalry in the 2021 season, according to CEO Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez.
With the history between H3CZ and Thieves owner Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, it’s easy for fans to hype up their first CDL showdown. They may be close friends outside the game, but both are gunning for that top spot in the league.
Given the Thieves are a brand new force for the 2021 season, viewers are excited to see them in action. Fans even voted OpTic to be their very first opponents in the upcoming CDL Kickoff Classic.
Despite the anticipation, however, H3CZ doesn’t buy into the rivalry. “Do you think that’s going to be your team’s biggest rival this year?” Anthony ‘NAMELESS’ Wheeler asked during a January 19 interview. “No,” H3CZ bluntly replied.
“I get it. I get we’re trying to hype this thing up,” he admitted. Though H3CZ would rather see the league’s biggest feuds grow “organically.” Rather than immediately lining the Thieves up as their top challenger due to history outside of the game, he’d rather see narratives emerge from within.
“I just don’t think Call of Duty needs the added extra. Storylines are going to develop from the beginning.”
Instead, H3CZ doubled down on a stance he made clear back in December. “Everyone that doesn’t say FaZe or Empire is their number one rivalry is just playing for the crowd,” he explained.
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To be the best, OpTic has to beat the best and that’s just what H3CZ intends for the Chicago lineup to achieve in 2021. “Everybody here is going after Empire, period. If you’re not gunning after the champions… I don’t know.”
The relevant topic begins at the 14:00 mark below.
Trying to force a major beef between the Green Wall and the Thieves is simply “too WWE,” according to H3CZ. “For people to be like ‘oh, it’s Nadeshot vs H3CZ,’ we’re not those dudes.”
So while the matchup might be intense when these two juggernauts first collide on January 24, don’t expect to see any wild trash talk from either owner. Empire and FaZe are the true rivals for OpTic in 2021, according to H3CZ.
